How to Create iTunes Account without Credit Card to Get Free Apps

You don’t need a credit card to have an iTunes account to install free apps, to listen to podcasts or to download free stuff from the App Store. In this post, we cover just that: how to create an iTunes account without any credit card information.

In the past, you needed to have valid credit card information in order to create an iTunes account. In fact, when you normally create an Apple ID via iTunes, you’ve got to fill the credit information. However, what people often miss is that if you are downloading something for free (free apps, free books etc.) from the iTunes store/App Store, you have the option of skipping the credit information altogether.

Update: As pointed out by a reader, the None option no longer appears when you try to create a new iTunes account. Here’s the full story on creating a new Apple ID without a credit card.

In order to do this, you’ll need:

A Mac/PC with iTunes

Okay, so here’s how create Apple ID for iTunes without Credit Card:

Step 1: Open iTunes

Step 2: Log out of any account that’s signed in. (Click on account name displayed on the upper right corner and then

‘Sign Out’)

Step 3: Get to the App Store to find some free app to download.

Step 4: Proceed to download the app. You’ll be prompted to create an account

Step 5: As you create an account, it comes to the screen where you’ll need to select a credit card.

Step 6: However, you can choose ‘None’ as the payment option. This will remove the need for a valid credit card input.

That’s about it. You just proceed from here to get the account created without requiring any credit card information. Just remember to select ‘None’.

Alternatively, if you’re doing this via iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch, you can follow the same process. Select ‘None’ in the credit card information portion and you won’t be asked for it again.

But remember that you’ll need a valid credit card information (pertaining to the country of your selection in your account profile) when you purchase stuff from the App store / iTunes store.

You can also use the same method to remove credit card information in case you don’t want that to be dangling around as a risk factor. Just get into your account and choose ‘None’ where it asks for your credit card information. As simple as that.